


The Turn of a Board

by timahina



Series: Arc-V Rare Pair Week 2019 [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Rare Pair Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 20:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19752814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timahina/pseuds/timahina
Summary: LDS had released technology that revolutionized the world of dueling and Reiji wants to expand and recruits a brand-new intern turned engineer.





	The Turn of a Board

Rin was ready to smack her head multiple times upon her keyboard; why, why, _why_?!

“Die, you little bitch!” She screamed into her headset, her fingers pounding away at her controller until fireworks erupted upon her screen, showering her character in victory. She slammed her controller down and raised her hands up in the air, spinning in her chair as the cord looped around her shoulders. But she didn’t care, she won! “I won! Suck my dick and choke on it, assholes!” She laughed mockingly until she heard her phone beeping wildly.

_ Shit! _

Rin tensed and immediately turned back on her chair, throwing the headset off and shutting off the chat feature. No matter how ridiculously entertaining it was to brag about dragging their sorry asses through an online shoot ‘em up game, this wasn’t the time for it. The game wasn’t shutting off fast enough and instead she decided to shut it down forcibly, pressing on the power button as though trying to choke out her desktop within an inch of its life.

Her lunch break was over now – though that was debatable since it wasn’t really a break, more so her sneaking off to a never used corner of an unexplained courtyard for the first break of her day, and her boss demanding that she do some more menial tasks. Another hour and she was certain her brain was bound to rot. She stomped off toward the exit, muttering about playing ping-pong with her boss’ beady glasses and lost in a delightful thought when she saw someone messing with her board. Not even messing with it, just picking it up. Touching it. Her eyes widened – what if he broke it?!

Worse – what if he was trying to steal it?!

“Hey!” Rin shrieked, sprinting at full speed and let loose a commanding aura. It did nothing to faze the man, he hardly looked up. Rin tried to make herself appear bigger, more terrifying as she straightened up her shoulders and tapped her foot impatiently. “Do you _mind_?!”

“No, continue.” He didn’t look up at her and hardly missed a beat. She stared, her mouth agape and simply horrified that at his response, as though she was the intruder and he the severely underpaid intern searching for a few moments of peace. And so, Rin huffed and continued to tap her foot impatiently upon the asphalt. But he… did not get the message. Rin cleared her throat, loudly and obnoxiously and saw his eyes steer up to her direction. And she tried… half-heartedly, to not have the glare of a blizzard upon him. “… did you need something?”

He sounded annoyed.

_Dick._

“Yea, an apology.” She reached forward and snatched her board back from his hands, clutching it tightly against her chest. “Who the hell taught you manners? It’s _rude_ to touch someone else’s stuff-”

“That’s an interesting device. What’s its function? I don’t recall seeing such a thing on the LDS protype division.”

Curious and obviously ignoring her discomfort on purpose. His entire manner, from head to toe – his expression, posture, manner of clothing, it reeked of privilege. The tone of his voice steeped deep with superiority and a stern nature. Rin turned her head away, pouting. “It’s not on any division, it’s mine. And like hell I’d share - so you can go and steal my idea and get a promotion? Oh, no way! You make your own duel board!”

He blinked, a blank stare before pushing up his red glasses. “I think you’re mistaken. I’m not-”

Her phone buzzed again, and she jumped, pushing past him and bumping his shoulder as she sped past him out of the courtyard. It was purposeful, that much was obvious from the force of impact and the way his arm was blaring with searing hot pain. What a strange girl… sneaking onto the Akaba courtyard without permission. He’d never seen her before.

As he turned to leave, his foot crunched on something and it gave him pause. He stared down, seeing a badge on the ground.

Oh, it was the girl. That was her picture. A bright and bubbly smile and the short bob of green hair – she seemed happier in the picture which made sense since it was probably taken on her first day as an intern. Who knows how long since the dark circles formed under her amber eyes or when the scowl wormed its way on her seemingly relaxed face?

_Hanada Rin…_

That board did look interesting…

\---

A nervous endeavor.

It was an appointment three months in the making, to finally show the execs of the New Tech Division what she was capable of and to finally release her from the probationary period of intern and into the status of full-time employee… with benefits… and set hours…

If she never had to do a 5am coffee run again, she would die happy – the real goal of this meeting. That and deciding her future, that too.

She strolled up to the main lab, taking several deep breaths and slapping her face – trying to hype herself up. It was all fine, she said repeatedly. _You are smart, you are confidant, you are a goddamn whirlwind and you **will** knock their socks off!_

The door wouldn’t open when she pushed.

Panic set in.

She tried pushing on the door again and the slight panic turned into a full-on attack as she repeatedly pushed on the door, looking like an incompetent intruder. The door was supposed to open, she had an appointment! Shouldn’t the execs inside the lab know her predicament and open the door from within? Wasn’t that also their job? Was this a test?!

Did she fail the test?!

If she couldn’t get the door open, then she’d miss her appointment. Rin would find herself stuck at the bottom of the intern list, upward mobility ceasing to be an option and other companies would never hire her as she would come with no recommendations, only a note that reads _‘Cannot open door; don’t allow near machinery’._

Her career was wrecked before it even began. Rin groaned loudly and backed up slightly, kicked the steel door with her foot – pain meant nothing, and she needed her frustration out.

“… why don’t you try your badge?”

A nervousness spiked up her skin as cold shivers showered her. She recognized that voice… She turned her head and the world seemed to slow the more she saw of the man. It had been a few days but there he was. He stood behind her with an incredulous look in his amethyst eyes. Rin couldn’t help but feel small in his presence, there was something about him… it set her off. But her badge? Did this door… Rin quickly searched her pockets, her face reddening by the second.

She felt foolish. Of course, the door to the senior lab was only accessible through clearance. And ordinarily, she didn’t have such clearance. That’s why it didn’t occur to her to use it. There were areas within the LDS building that only certain clearance allowed and given her intern status, she was given very few leeway. But she had an appointment, she did her waiting and surely they’d allow her in.

But now where was…!

“Where is that fucking…?!” Rin mumbled, her hands shaking as she set down her board and turned her bag inside-out. Pens and make-up and wallet and loose coins and crumpled up receipts… but no badge. She gulped, where did she leave it?

Was it in the break room? In the bathroom?

Was it on the subway?

At home on her desk?

“Oh, this is just hard to watch.” He muttered and took long strides until he was in front of her, swiping a badge over the security box on the side and the beeping light turned green, the door opening in an instant with little struggle. There, behind the door was a busy group of execs who suddenly stood to attention.

“Mr. President!”

Rin’s eyes went wide. What did they… say?

But his attention wasn’t on them, but onto her. He was on his knees, picking up the crumpled paper and coins. She fumbled picking them back up, the nervousness setting back in with a hearty dose of adrenaline. “My apologies, I’ve caused a promising new employee to stumble. That was clumsy of me.”

“You... wha-” He narrowed his eyes, almost sending a message with the hard stare he gave her. “Uh, uh – right! Yea, total accident!” Her things were quickly gathered back into her purse and she swiped her badge from his willing fingers, mumbling a thank you as she walked past him. She did not expect him to follow after her.

And neither did the other scientists and engineers in the room for the lead tech quickly spoke up. “Forgive me, Mr. President but… did you need something? We weren’t expecting you at today’s presentation.”

“I came to oversee Miss Hanada Rin. I caught a peak of some contraption of hers and have become quite fascinated. If I’m not mistaken, will I learn what the device is today?”

So, it… _wasn’t_ normal for the President… to appear? President of Leo Corporation, she heard of the reclusive young president. Rumors flooded the building regarding him constantly. He was either an awkward shy child who could hardly be in the same room as his shadow and only came out in the cover of darkness or the sexiest thing since sex; it was a hard toss-up depending on the boredom of the day.

But either way, Akaba Reiji was in the room with her and surprisingly cordial. At least when he wasn’t messing with her. The techs merely mumbled, a curious fervor about them as they gathered up their clipboards, eager to see how well she could do that she caught Akaba Reiji’s interest. Rin was sent to a table to set up her presentation. No one was in any position to kick out the young president for his curious whim.

Now as Rin set aside her bag and prepared her notes, she saw how the others took a set and Akaba Reiji stayed standing. He didn’t present himself like any businessman, merely a spoiled child. She could’ve mistaken him for a college student by his preppy attire, not an employee – let alone owner of the company. But that didn’t matter, nope, not today! “So… more than 15 years ago, Leo Corp. took the dueling world by storm and introduced real solid vision, giving what were previously generic holograms solid mass. Exciting times and then action duels happened and I’m sure we all know the story from there, and Leo Corp. has been the leading tech industry in the world of dueling since then.”

Nothing she said was new information.

The techs were about five seconds from kicking her out, but Reiji pushed up his glasses and gave her a signal to continue from her opening. He had her interest.

Rin took a deep breath. “Back in my hometown, the concept of riding duels – ah, um, duels on motorcycles,” she tried to ignore the laughter as though something was funny. It was a hard sell outside of Domino and she knew that, but she couldn’t falter. “Riding duels are a uh, popular show but bikes are expensive on their own. But one that’s a combination duel disk and motorcycle is even worse on the wallet and can be quite dangerous. But come on, who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned race with some death-defying card games in there? Like, is it really duel monsters without some kind of life-threatening aspect?”

A poor joke. If crickets were allowed in the lab, she would hear them.

The senior lab tech did not look amused and opened his mouth to speak, a disapproval reaching his eyes quickly. But alas… “Leo Corporation wouldn’t find it prudent to establish riding duels as the main segway for the next evolution of dueling. After all, duelists start attending classes at a young age and as I recall, a minimum of age 14 is allowed for riding permits. Wouldn’t we be alienating an audience, Miss Hanada?”

A business standpoint, of course. And she flustered for a moment, thinking he was sabotaging her. But the lead tech was quiet now, no longer looking with disappointment. No, Akaba Reiji had asked her a question. And…!

Oh!

“Uh, actually – you would think that, Mr. Leo Corp Prez,” she saw how he stiffened at the highly informal nickname and how the other techs stared in amazement at the bold intern who spoke such a way to her boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss. “However, I’ve managed to combine all the fun of high-speed dueling with the wind in your hair and still have a kid-friendly feel that can _easily_ be marketable to a wide audience. And that is where my hoverboard… duel… disk… board…”

“Duel board?”

“Yes!” She pointed at Reiji with a relieved smile. The name of her invention had been giving her trouble and she hoped something brilliant and punny would come to her and of course the gods were unkind. But thankfully, Reiji was much nicer than he seemed. Maybe if he smiled… no, that might be worse. “Yes, a duel board! Allow me to demonstrate!” Rin powered up her board and a hum of lights appeared; the scientists were fully attentive now.

As she stepped up, Reiji raised his hand. “May I volunteer?”

“Oh, um…” She hadn’t exactly tested it out with other subjects, only herself. She didn’t know if the board would support his weight or if he had the balance to keep on. But… it would probably be easier. Plus, the techs seemed to pay close attention to Reiji. If she won him over, then surely they would all fall in line. “Yea, sure – come on up, Mr. Leo Cor-”

He raised his hand up to stop her. “Please, don’t.”

 _No nicknames, got it_. She was trying her best not to let the nerves startle her as Reiji stepped up to the board. And he stumbled, his body swaying slightly in an ungracious-like manner. One of the scientists gasped, thinking he was about to fall over and hit his head on the desk before Rin lunged forward, her hand tight on his forearm. He was not balanced at all – amazing. “Ah, Mr. Prez, if you could just… press the little green button by your right foot.” And he did. Suddenly, the board hummed louder and he was able to stand tall. Even as he leaned from side to side, right to left, even moving a few feet and back – his balance was maintained. “Ah, so what the gracious and talented Akaba Reiji here just demonstrated was a gravity manipulation I designed for the more… uncoordinated folks. Kinda the same principle as riding a skateboard but a d-wheel has an autopilot function and thought that’d be a cool feature.”

Reiji was now demonstrating the purpose of the auto-pilot feature, somehow finding a way to zip around the room and the techs gasping in horror and clutching their metaphorical pearls as he turned a sharp corner and kicked off against a wall to gain speed.

Rin raised up a clipboard to hide her smile, her laughter – she had to look mature and collected. “Right, so…! Hoverboard requires little maintenance, like maybe a simple charge nightly and for all those worried parents, these boards don’t go past speeds of 20 mph.” Reiji was definitely proving such a thing as he zipped back around, the hum of the board drawing closer.

He looked carefree, like he didn’t have a multi-billion dollar corporation hanging on his shoulders and more like a child which she found funny – she didn’t know his age. But the smile on his face looked foreign, like he hadn’t done so in a while.

And for that, she couldn’t help but grin, locking eyes with him for a moment and muttered a thank you behind her sincere smile.

Perhaps a mistake.

She heard a beep and saw that Reiji moved his foot. The next few moments were almost like a daze of Reiji losing his balance and the hoverboard did not follow but instead, he tipped over and fell on his side. Rin shrieked and the other techs stood up horrified, all clamoring for his well-being.

All were too afraid to move, merely listening and waiting.

Waiting for the young president to move, to stand. To enact ire against the young intern and ban her from LDS premises, possibly threaten a lawsuit for any such injury he sustained. Rin could believe any of that.

But instead, a shocking twist.

A rumble, soft and uncertain – almost eerie before turning into a laughter. Not one of pain or disbelief but like… humorous, enjoyment… like he knew he had done something foolish and found it funny himself. Reiji was laughing at himself.

The other scientists followed suit, also laughing. Albeit awkwardly at first, waiting for the heel-face-turn to occur but it hadn’t. Reiji did sit up, rubbing the back of his head and used his other hand to motion for Rin to come down to his level. “I am… _so_ sorry, Mr. President.” She decided to be more cordial, begging was probably next. “I can go get an ice pack and-!”

He shook his head. “No, this was my own fault. I got distracted momentarily… but I should thank you, I haven’t had an experience like that before. A tad reckless, but enjoyable. I can see how exhilarating it would be during a duel. I invite you to show me, Miss Hanada.”

“W-Wha… show you?”

“Yes, make another one. Possibly one with the auto-pilot feature on the side where I can’t accidentally turn it off.” Rin was having trouble processing this and shook her head. “Very well, if that’s difficult, then make my board longer.” He huffed, moving forward slightly with a hiss – movement was not wise yet. Now the techs scrambled to fetch him ice and a first aid kit and perhaps bringing the on-call doctor.

“… Mr. President, I don’t get it. Did you actually… like this?”

The soft smile and the subtle nod. “I’ve never ridden on something like that… I simply wanted the experience. And besides, testing it myself has given me two conclusions. The first is…” he groaned trying to stand up and ultimately gave up on that endeavor, “idly standing by and mocking new ideas is more dangerous than any fall. LDS has created a new era of duel monsters and we are to follow in that. And to continue on that path, perhaps I need an engineer with wild ideas and an approachable vibe.”

Rin felt like her heart was ready to drop to her stomach – he called her approachable?! And that he needed her?! He liked her idea?! There were too many things happening at once and she felt like her brain was ready to implode.

Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t noticed how he continued; words mumbled out in an incoherent whisper as his glasses slid down his nose. An image unbefitting of a stoic company president but so was falling off a hoverboard so image be damned at this point. It was hard to make out the muttering in the midst of the techs gathering around him but Rin could swear Akaba Reiji called her smile distracting.


End file.
